The Alternate (episode)
The Bajoran scientist who used to be Odo's teacher arrives with evidence of others of Odo's kind. Summary Teaser Quark is trying to sell pieces of Plegg to another Ferengi when Odo walks in and comes up to Quark. The other Ferengi leaves upon hearing Quark’s asking price, and Odo takes out latinum as if to buy some of the remains, before informing Quark that he wants to buy parts of Plegg, but that is impossible because Plegg is still alive. As they are discussing this, Dr. Mora enters the bar and calls out to Odo. As Quark starts to talk to Dr. Mora, Odo leaves in disgust, with Dr. Mora walking with him. They head to the replimat, where Dr. Mora hints that he may have a clue as to Odo’s origins. Act One Benjamin Sisko is reading a PADD in his quarters when Jake tries to leave to meet Nog. Sisko asks Jake about his homework, and upon hearing that it is done, tells Jake he can’t leave because he should be listening to Klingon opera to appreciate their culture. In frustration, Jake asks his father when the last time he listened to Klingon opera. Sisko informs Jake that it was when he was his son’s age, and then suggests that Jake invite Nog over and they can listen to the Klingon opera together. Jake walks off in frustration as Odo enters. Odo requests the use of a runabout for investigating a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, where DNA similar to Odo’s had been found. Jadzia joins Odo, Dr. Mora, and a Bajoran scientist, Dr. Weld on the runabout, and Dr. Mora encourages Odo to tell Jadzia the story of when he was in the lab, but Dr. Mora then repeatedly interrupts Odo to correct him. The four people beam down to the planet, L-S VI, and begin to scan the surrounding area. They come upon an artifact with unrecognizable letters on it. Jadzia suggests taking the artifact back to the station to let the computers there decipher it. As they are engaged in looking at the artifact, Dr. Weld had come across a lifeform which has a similar DNA to Odo. The silicate-based creature is placed in a container, and the artifact is transported up to the runabout. As soon as it leaves the surface of the planet the ground begins to shake. Dr. Mora starts to cough, and then falls to the ground. Soon after, Jadzia and Weld do the same, and only Odo is left standing, when the computer locks onto their combadges and transports them to the runabout. Act Two In Sickbay on the station Dr. Bashir is caring for the two Bajorans and Jadzia. Odo wasn’t affected by the gas that paralyzed the others, so he joins O'Brien in studying the silicate-based creature that was found on the planet, and O’Brien states that the creature keeps changing, and that he’s put a level 5 security field on it. Sisko is sleeping when Kira wakes him up and asks him to come down to the science lab. He enters the lab, and sees that the lab has been trashed. The case that the lifeform was in is broken apart. Act Three The crew looks for signs of what has happened, Odo then sets up a scan for the missing lifeform, and the station goes to yellow alert. O’Brien notes that the lifeform might have gone through the ventilation. Jadzia enters the science lab and Odo leaves to talk to Dr. Mora. Dr. Mora attempts to leave sickbay to help find the creature, but Odo convinces him to stay. As O’Brien crawls through the ventilation duct in search of the lifeform, he hears something, and follows the sound. He comes across a structural breach, and when putting his hand up to touch the structure it breaks, pouring down some kind of liquid. He identifies it as the missing lifeform, and states that it is now dead. Dr. Bashir studies the lifeform, and determines that it needed more carbon dioxide to survive. As he is in sickbay, he hears a noise coming from the ceiling. He is unable to find anything, but as he resumes his work a tentacle comes up from behind and grabs him. He struggles, it lets go, then he uses a laser scalpel to cut the creature. The lifeform retreats back through the ceiling vent, and Dr. Bashir calls security down to sickbay. Act Four After a team arrives, Bashir explains to them what he had seen, Sisko changes the station to red alert. Jadzia runs a cross-tabulation analysis, and finds that the lifeform found on the planet and the one that attacked Dr. Bashir in sickbay don’t have enough similarities to be the same lifeform. Dr. Mora recognizes the organic sample as being the same as Odo. Act Five Dr. Mora confronts Odo with the likelihood that it was probably Odo himself who committed the trashing of the science lab and the attack on Dr. Bashir. Dr. Mora attempts to convince Odo to return to the scientific center with him, but Odo refuses. As they are arguing Odo hits a security panel and he starts to change into something else. Dr. Mora flees from security. Dr. Mora arrives at the Operations center as the station crew attempt to find out why the power in security has just failed. He explains that Odo is the creature, and that this metamorphosis is probably a reaction to the gas that was encountered on the planet. Dr. Mora volunteers to be bait to attract the creature that was Odo into a trap. Dr. Mora waits on the promenade for a while. The creature comes out and into the force field waiting for it. Dr. Mora watches in distress as the creature slams itself into the force field again and again, realizing then how Odo must have felt during his time at the center. The force field drops and the creature morphs into Odo and falls to the ground. Dr. Mora rushes over to him. In sickbay, Odo looks normal again, and Dr. Bashir informs him that the gas has been purged from his system. Odo apologizes to Dr. Mora for attacking him, and Mora apologizes for not seeing sooner how Odo felt. Memorable Quotes "I am merely a businessman. It would take an orator with the skills of the late, great Plegg himself to sing the praises of the late, great Plegg." : - Quark "Humanoid death rituals are a hobby of mine." "Death rituals?" "Everyone needs a hobby." : - Odo and Quark "Feel like getting a raktajino before we call it a night?" "My replicator or yours?" : - Jadzia and Bashir "I prescribe rest, because it's hard for a doctor to go wrong with that one." : - Bashir Background Information * The idea for this episode came to Jim Trombetta when he realized that if a shape shifter was suffering from multiple personality disorder, "not only would he go around exhibiting different personalities, but different bodies." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * James Sloyan made his first of two appearances as Dr. Mora Pol in this episode. He reprised the role in the fifth season episode . * This episode is the last Star Trek episode to be directed by David Carson. He went on to direct . * This episode justified the claim Odo made in , when he told Lwaxana Troi that he modeled his hairstyle after his mentor Dr. Mora Pol. * It seems that Dr. Mora was correct when he identified the monolith as a "relic of Odo's people," as an almost identical monolith can be clearly be seen on the Founders' planet in the episode . * When telling Odo the story about his father, Sisko seems to imply (without actually saying it) that his father had passed away after becoming ill. Joseph Sisko ultimately made six appearances in the series, his first one taking place almost exactly two years after this episode. * Mora Pol was originally to be played by Rene Auberjonois himself, much as Data's creator Noonien Soong was played by Brent Spiner, but this plan was scrapped when it was realized how much time it would take each day to get Auberjonois out of one make-up and into another. Most DS9 episodes were shot in 7 days, but it was estimated that with Auberjonois playing both parts it would take at least 14 to complete the shoot. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * Special effects supervisor Glenn Neufeld wasn't especially pleased with how this episode turned out, primarily due to the fact that he feels the audience sees too much of the 'monster'; "I figured out the way the script was written, by my timing, we'd be looking at the creature for a minute and a half of screen time. Thirty cuts between three and fifteen seconds each, at various times in the show. I was forced to point out that in the movie ''Alien up to the moment where we really see it, there are only a hundred frames of creature. And do we really want to see our creature all that time? And, of course, the answer was 'Yes'." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion'') Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 16, . * As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection. Links and References Guest Star *James Sloyan as Dr. Mora Pol Co-Stars * Matt McKenzie as Dr. Weld Ram * Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn (uncredited) References Changeling; Ferengi death ritual; holosuite; homework; Khosla II; Plegg; Deka tea; nucleotide; R-F energy; cellular structure External Links * |next= }} Alternate, The de:Metamorphosen es:The Alternate nl:The Alternate